Those That Run
by The-Darkness-Befalls
Summary: Stiles runs away to Neverland when he's ten years old. He's only the first. Other the next six years, his pack of Lost Kids and his rivalry with Captain Wolf both grow and grow-but no one ever ages. But the paradise of being forever young has a cost. Faced with a choice between the deaths of the people they left behind or finally growing up, what will they choose? Peter Pan AU.
1. Chapter 1

_The following is only loosely based on Peter Pan._

* * *

He is ten years and two months old the first time it happens.

He's leaning on his window sill, staring at the tree line in the distance, his mind completely and uncharacteristically blank. His parents are asleep in their room, and he is here, alone.

His mother is dying and Stiles doesn't think he can handle it.

He sees something in the distance-a flicker like candlelight. Suddenly his head feels like sludge. Everything slows, and before he knows what is going on, he is somewhere _new_?

He's in a jungle that looks like he's just stepped into a Disney movie and colors are _brighter_ and more _colorful_. It's beautiful and brilliant and new and he can feel his mind spinning with _possibilities_.

He explores and spins and jumps and runs and plays.

After he's spent a few hours playing by himself, Stiles thinks about Scott. Stiles wants to tell Scott about it, and suddenly he's_ in Scott's room._

He wakes Scott up, the other boy blearily asking Stiles why he's in his room.

But Mrs. McCall is in the room too quickly.

"Stiles! Your parents are worried sick!"

Worried? Sick?

His mother was _dying_.

Stiles starts to cry.

He's ten years and two months old when he first ends up in Neverland.

And everything changes from there.

* * *

Stiles does eventually tell Scott about it. He doesn't believe him, of course, but Stiles is persistent.

Scott tries to be a good friend, Stiles knows that. But he doesn't _want_ to talk about his mother and he doesn't _want_ to say goodbye.

He's ten years and seven months old when his mother dies, and it hurts too much to think about.

* * *

The night after the funeral, Stiles leans out his window. He's wearing the same clothes he wore to the funeral-red dress shirt because the white one is dirty, black pants that are a little too big-and he's crying and pleading to see the jungle again.

He can feel the pull of magic bringing him through the sludge again, back to the magical wonderful place he escaped to when they first told him she was dying.

This time, he doesn't think about anything but the jungle and the beach and the whole island. This time, he says to himself, he's in _Neverland_. As in, Never Think Again Land.

* * *

He makes a home in the wreckage of an old ship. Sometimes he fishes for food, but mostly he eats berries. It's more filling than he remembers fruit to be, but the magic of the place is a blanket explanation. He doesn't understand this place at all, and he loves it all the same.

He marks the days by scratching lines into the wooden wall of his bedroom using rocks. It reaches fourteen days before he sees anyone else.

There is a man. His face is burnt and scarred, and his smile is wicked with sharp pointed teeth and blood on his cracked lips. Stiles hides when he sees him, and he doesn't even know why.

The man is gone soon after. Stiles doesn't see him again for a long time.

* * *

He makes a wish on a star for a friend thirty one days after coming to Neverland.

* * *

He's in Neverland for thirty-two days when he finds the faery. It's not like the other faeries. His wings are more like a dragonfly's wings, and his skin sometimes looks like scales. And there is a tail, like a lizards.

The faery also looks like a miniature version of the one kid he's always disliked. He's alive but he's cold to the touch and won't wake up and he doesn't think he can handle someone dying right now, creature or not.

Things go a little strange from there. The faeries won't take him in, and none of them will tell him why.

Stiles ends up ripping part of his sleeve off and wrapping it around the little body. He makes a nest for him next to his hammock, and eventually falls asleep himself.

* * *

The faery wakes up before Stiles does, but it's not very long before.

The faery _does_ turn out to be Jackson. Neither one of them knows why he's no longer human, but after a verbal fight that leaves them both upset, Stiles knows why he ended up in Neverland too.

Jackson found out he was adopted, and decided to run away. The same night that Stiles wished for a friend.

* * *

Jackson and Stiles do not become immediate friends. They argue constantly, but they are all they have right now. Jackson never learns to fly very well since the other faeries refuse to interact with him, so Stiles takes to carrying him about the island.

Fifty eight days after coming to Neverland, Stiles finds a tree spirit who calls Jackson a Kanima. They don't return to the part of the island they found the tree spirit at, but Jackson becomes Kanima instead of Jackson after that.

They live together in the husk of the ship for another twenty three days before things change again.

* * *

Scott shows up crying and confused. He tells Stiles that everyone thinks he ran away and got kidnapped, especially when Jackson went missing too.

Stiles doesn't learn for nearly two days that the reason Scott ended up in Neverland _now_ is because Scott's dad left them.

The three of them live together for nearly six months before someone new ends up in their part of Neverland. His name is Isaac and Scott immediately latches on to him. Stiles can't help but be jealous, because Scott is _his_ best friend. But he grows to like Isaac over time, and the jealousy lessens.

Kanima starts calling Scott and Isaac the "Lost Boys", but Stiles stays just Stiles.

None of them talk about the families they left behind.


	2. Chapter 2

It's nearly a year before they realise that Scott hasn't had an asthma attack the entire time he's been there. It's a liberating kind of thing, a joy they hadn't expected.

In Neverland, they needn't worry about dying because they suddenly can't breathe.

* * *

Eventually, they lose count of the days. It's not like it's ever been a necessary thing to keep track of them. None of them plan on leaving, on returning home.

One beautiful quiet day, they're attacked by a pirate. His face is mottled with scars and something about him just _feels_ wrong.

The man, for he is a man and not a child like the rest of them, proclaims himself Captain Wolf, and grins wickedly as he takes their prized possessions.

It's the same man that Stiles saw when he was new to Neverland, when he had no one else.

He comes every few weeks after that, stealing what little they've come to cherish in the interim.

It's a dark smear on the Neverland they've come to love.

* * *

Boyd arrives about two years after Stiles. He's a lot bigger than they are, in size and age. He is quiet for the most part, and doesn't really like them. But he stays with them, especially after Captain Wolf steals his shoes.

They're not very close to him at all until Erica comes.

* * *

Captain Wolf comes to pirate their things one day and he isn't alone. There's a boy with him, much older than the rest of them but he's still a boy. He doesn't help Wolf, or say anything to them at all. But he watches, taking in everything with wide eyes.

That's when Stiles notices the boy is wearing a pair of shoes that are obviously too small.

He looks uncomfortable, but he's also wearing Boyd's shoes and Stiles is certain the belt around his waist is actually his.

No one says anything to Wolf or his companion.

* * *

No one expects to Danny to join them one day. He's much taller than he used to be, and he's wearing a Beacon Hill Middle School Lacrosse jersey.

His face is covered in blood and bruises.

His hands are fisted at his sides.

When he sees Kanima, _Jackson_, he cries.

* * *

None of them find it odd or strange, or dislike him when he admits his teammates beat him up because he was gay, but instead Kanima doesn't stop apologising for days, because he wasn't there to defend Danny. The smile on Danny's face makes Kanima brighter than he'd been in ages.

* * *

Erica comes to Neverland somewhere around three years after Stiles. She's skinny and skittish, wearing a worn t-shirt and bright blue leggings. She doesn't say why she's come, not at first. She's obviously older than the rest of them, towering over everyone.

She does, however, tell them that she's thirteen. She bonds with Boyd immediately, and to a lesser extent Isaac.

It takes two weeks before Erica tells them she's epileptic. She's terrified of having a fit here, without her medicines and her parents.

She bonds with Scott when he tells her about his asthma and how it's been _years_ here without an attack.

* * *

Everything isn't perfect and easy. Sometimes, they hate each other beyond measure. They're _children_ and it's expected of them. Even though Stiles and Kanima and Scott and Isaac are ten and eleven, and Danny and Boyd are twelve, and Erica is thirteen, they're still kids.

Scott and Kanima scream at each other sometimes, and have to be separated by Danny and Stiles. Both Stiles and Kanima know that the days they spent together before Scott came are probably the only reason they don't yell at each other like that too.

Erica likes to wrestle with them because it's the first time in her life she's been that active without fear. Sometimes, she goes too far and hurts them. It's not deliberate, but being older and bigger does make a difference.

But they always band together when it comes to Captain Wolf's thievery, hiding each others things wherever they can think of. Sometimes, they don't find their belongings for days because no one remembers where they were hidden in the panic.

* * *

It's six months after Erica comes that Stiles sees her.

_Lydia Martin._

She's older, obviously, than he remembers. But she's still the prettiest girl he's ever seen. Her hair, her eyes, her lips. _Everything_ about Lydia is so perfect and wonderful.

He can't make himself feel guilty for her life bringing her here, no matter what.

* * *

Of course, he doesn't tell anyone she's in Neverland or approach her. Not at first. He just watches her, building her own shelter and gathering food. He watches her all day long, a smile on his face as she does her own thing instead of searching for help.

She's so _perfect_.

* * *

Captain Wolf approaches her the next morning. She flinches back, but refuses to hand over the raincoat she'd come to Neverland wearing. There is a fire in her eyes, and Stiles is proud of her for it.

It's the first time he sees how violent Captain Wolf really is, when the man takes it by force and breaks Lydia's wrist.

Her scream brings Kanima and the Lost Kids to them like a moth to flame.

* * *

Captain Wolf's boy has a horrified look on his face when he runs up to them too, one that makes him look so much younger.

"Uncle Peter! Stop it!" the boy yells. He's terrified, and Stiles almost wonders if the boy has ever been hurt like that by Captain Wolf.

"Go back to the ship, _beta_." Wolf snarls, his eyes flashing blue. The boy's eyes flash back. He hesitates, looking at Lydia and Stiles and the Lost Kids and Kanima.

But then he runs, disappearing in the distance.

Stiles moves without thinking, putting himself between Lydia and Wolf. The rest of them follow.

"Do not think you and your little band of children can protect yourselves, Little Red." Wolf snarls, stepping closer to him. As he does it, his faces changes. Long sharp fangs slip out of his mouth, his ears change shape and become pointed and his eyes turn that eerie glowing blue.

Stiles grabs one of the branches Lydia had been using in her shelter and holds it up like a bat.

"Leave us alone!" Stiles swings the branch and it makes a satisfying crunch as it shatters against the side of Wolf's face. The man snarls and surges forward, shifting into a mass of misshapen wolf.

But he stops suddenly, as if pushed back by some invisible barrier.

The wolf bears his teeth at them.

No one moves, terror evident in all of them. He slinks forward again, slower. But he stops just before the line of splinters in the dirt and sand, unable to go forward. He goes back into his human shape, the shift grotesque and disturbing. Stiles is pretty sure they're all going to have nightmares for weeks.

"This isn't the last of me, _spark_." He jolts forward again, making Stiles flinch backward even though he knows the creature cannot reach him.

"You'll never win, Wolf. Not against Stiles and the Lost Kids!" Kanima yells from his perch on Danny's shoulder. Wolf's nose twitches as if he's seconds from a snarl.

But he leaves, running barefoot back through the trees. Just like his nephew had.

* * *

Lydia's the one who notices the shoes. _Boyd's shoes._ It's the first thing she says once no one can see Captain Wolf anymore. They're sitting where Wolf's nephew had been standing.

Of course, then she starts asking a ton of questions about Neverland that no one knows the answer to.

"Stiles has been here the longest. Ask him." Kanima finally says. Everyone else nods in agreement.

"I don't know how it works! It's _magic_."

* * *

They end up heading back to the ship they call home, each of them except Lydia carrying some of the branches she had so carefully made into a shelter. Boyd is wearing his shoes again, though they've stretched a little from the other boy wearing them.

Lydia sticks with Danny, who she remembers the most.

Eventually, Lydia's wrist is bandaged and Erica sets up a bed for her. Stiles watches them quietly. Erica is still the tallest of them, even though Lydia is older now. It's _nice_ to know that Lydia isn't towering over him. She's still taller, of course, being more than three years older, but she doesn't look as out of place as Erica does.

Stiles thinks he could love her here forever.

* * *

When what seems like ages pass, and Captain Wolf doesn't return, Stiles starts to breathe easier again. They all do.

The day Lydia came changed some things for them. They still don't always like each other, especially Kanima and Scott, but there isn't as much tension anymore.

Lydia spends most of her time with Danny and Kanima, just like she had when they were all younger. But she puts in time for Stiles too, even though he can't understand her sometimes. It's the knowledge she's picked up since he's been here that separates them the most.

Stiles hates it as much as he likes it. Lydia is the most vibrant when she speaks.

No one even tries to be in charge over Stiles, even though he's the youngest. Not even Lydia.

* * *

The fae bring word of the return of Captain Wolf after three months pass. He doesn't know how much time exactly, but there have been three full moons in the time between.

When Stiles sees Captain Wolf, though, it's obvious he's not the _same_ Captain Wolf.

The burned man is gone, but the dark haired boy-his nephew-is dressed in his clothes or something similar and wearing the Captain's oversized hat. It's like playing dress-up, Stiles thinks. He doesn't say that though.

He already knows he likes this Captain Wolf better.

"I'm taking this!" the boy tells him, taking the pearl Stiles had found right out of his hands.

"Give it back!"

The other boy blinks.

"Or what?" he asks Stiles, backing him up against a tree.

"Or. . . or I'll tell everyone about the shoes!" Stiles blurts out. Because there is no way the other boy could know they already knew.

"I'll get my revenge, brat." The other boy says, throwing the pearl back.

Stiles smiles at his retreating back.

Yeah, he likes this Captain Wolf a lot better.

It worries him a little though, that he doesn't know what happened to his uncle.


End file.
